Experimental test-bench for the development of a new mini morphable Wells turbine for wave energy conversion integrable into existing port-structures or coastal defense systems against erosion.
| Componente | Categoria |
|---|---|
| Myrta Castellino | Dottorando/Assegnista/Specializzando componente non strutturato del gruppo di ricerca / PhD/Assegnista/Specializzando member non structured of the research group |
| Valerio Francesco Barnabei | Dottorando/Assegnista/Specializzando componente non strutturato del gruppo di ricerca / PhD/Assegnista/Specializzando member non structured of the research group |
| Fabio Russo | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Stefano Magnaldi | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Francesco Napolitano | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Alessandro Corsini | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
The aim of the project is to perform experimental tests on a new morphable mini Wells turbine which is particularly suitable to operate in presence of waves with limited energy content. This is the typical scenario which present a high frequency of occurrence along the Mediterranean coasts.
The strengths of this mini Wells are: (i) extremely light rotor; (ii) no need of actuators to morph the rotor blades; (iii) low construction and maintenance costs; (iii) capability to produce energy starting from low wave heights in the order of a few decimetres; (iv) turbine rotors made with non-metallic material. Furthermore, the small size and low investment costs of the turbine make it particularly suitable to be installed either in existing structures, such as anti-reflective perforated caissons (often used in the Mediterranean harbours), or in devices for the coastal defense from erosive phenomena located on shallow water conditions (1.5 ÷ 2.0 m on s.w.l.).
The need to carry out experimental tests derives from the impossibility to handle in a virtual Computational Fluid Dynamics environment the huge difference in time-scale of the turbine (that spins at 1500-3000 rpm) and the wave period (in the order of some seconds). Properly designed lab tests, executed in controlled realistic sea conditions, are therefore mandatory to fully characterized the behavior of morphable WT and its capability to self-starting, that is necessary for operations in the Mediterranean sea.